Mystery2
by Xule
Summary: Zuko experiences the bond that A'Ohni has made between them. [REVIEWS PLEASE]


III

When A'Ohni awoke, it was to a dimly lit room. A tapestry depicting a scarlet flame set against a black background hung on the wall beside her. She was lying in a low bed with a thin pillow and no mattress. She lay there a little longer, long enough to notice that the room about her was moving. It bobbed rhythmically up and down and lurched to the side every now and then. _I am on a ship. _She said to herself. _The question is; whose? _

She rolled silently out of bed, hissing in pain when she put weight on her broken leg. She collapsed backward and sat on the narrow bunk to examine the room, which was bare except for a walking stick that some thoughtful person had propped at the head of the bed.

A'Ohni took the cane and traversed the room, moving with far greater ease than before. The door handle turned easily and opened inward to reveal a narrow corridor. At the far end was a flight of metal stairs. Torches burned merrily in their brackets lining the walls, casting eerie shadows over the faces of the two guards that were stationed either side of her door. She cleared her throat loudly and they turned in surprise.

"Lady." Said one. "Prince Zuko and Lord Iroh request that you report to the deck as soon as you are ready."

A'Ohni frowned. "For what?"

"They did not say." He replied. "But I assume that they wish to figure out what is to be done with you."

A'Ohni nodded. "That is reasonable." She said, and headed up the stairs, with some difficulty, to the deck.

Standing rigidly at the bow of the ship was Prince Zuko. Beside him, General Iroh was buffing an enormous horn that wrapped around his entire body. It was made of ivory and fixed with steel rings. Iroh stopped his hand halfway up from the pot of varnish by his chair when he saw A'Ohni hobbling toward them.

"Prince Zuko." He said over his shoulder to his superior. A'Ohni had to stop herself laughing at such behaviour, here was an accomplished warrior and worthy lord, under the command of a boy not much older than herself.

Said boy turned quickly in response to the cautious tone in his uncle's voice. Seeing A'Ohni he gave a lopsided smirk, which she returned in kind, along with the devious eyes that accompanied it.

"Why do you request my presence?" she asked, leaning awkwardly on a cane that was too long for her.

"For questioning." Zuko replied.

"Why?" She questioned, frowning. "From what I have experienced, your nation is not particularly…generous. Why have I been given the chance to defend myself."

Iroh stood up, handing his horn over to one of the nearby soldiers.

"It was I who convinced the Prince to hear you out." He offered. "I would not have done so if not for…"

"For what?" A'Ohni's voice raised slightly, and she took a few steps forward in apprehension. Then she remembered why she had thrown herself off that cliff – "Where is the stone?"

"We should continue this conversation somewhere more private." Said Zuko, eyeing the soldiers that were bustling about them. "Come along."

Zuko ushered A'Ohni into his uncle's cabin, then held Iroh back and closed the door, locking her in so that they could speak.

"What do you plan to say?" Iroh asked, a somewhat amused expression playing at his features.

Zuko hesitated. "I had not really thought about that."

Iroh crossed his arms and examined his nephew. "You had better think about it now, and quickly. I doubt she will wait in there as quietly as she has for very long."

Zuko nodded and lowered his gaze, desperately trying to arrange his thoughts. A determined look came upon his face and he nodded to his uncle, who returned the gesture before leading the way into the room.

A'Ohni flumped lazily down onto one of the many large cushions surrounding Iroh's table, tossing the cane aside before proceeding to lick at the large blister beginning to form on her palm. She grumbled profanity to herself as she did so.

Iroh sat, but Zuko could not help gazing at this girl, whose disgraceful language was turning the room blue. She glanced up at him and smiled.

"Where did a _woman_ learn such language?" He asked, his bewilderment entirely genuine.

"From the Fire Nation's soldiers, where else?" She retorted with a sneer.

Beside her, Iroh chuckled quietly. "She is a clever one."

Zuko growled away an impending tantrum before sitting down opposite her. Iroh was right, she was clever, she was the one who had decided that he would take her, she was the one who had drawn him to her, and she was the one that now had access to his mind.

The first question was obvious; "Who are you?"

"I am A'Ohni." She replied. "But you already know that, so I will elaborate. I am number nine, nine of what, I will not say. I am the last of my kind, though who my kind are – _were, _I will leave for later to reveal."

"When is later?" Asked Iroh.

"Whenever I like." She said, a smile spreading across her face.

_She is _enjoying _this._ Zuko thought, getting angrier.

"Where do you come from?" He asked.

"North." She said. "Not quite up as far as the North Pole, but fairly far. All of my people once lived there…But I suppose it is either abandoned or overrun with Fire Nation soldiers by now."

"How long ago were you overthrown?"

"Long enough to leave only one alive."

Zuko brought his fist down on the table. "Answer me!" he roared.

"I _am_ answering you." She replied.

"I mean properly!" Zuko shouted. "This is an interrogation, not a conversation! Give me some _proper _information."

"I will." Said A'Ohni, smile splitting into a broad grin. "When I am ready to give it."

Iroh leaned forward on the table, putting himself between Zuko and A'Ohni (Which was a very brave thing to do.). His smile had gone, replaced by a frown.

"Young lady, I don't think that you have quite grasped the seriousness of your position." He said. "You are prisoner, on a ship crawling with Fire Nation soldiers, headed for a detention facility _overrun_ with Fire Nation soldiers.

A'Ohni shrugged. "It's better than sleeping in the forest."

Zuko tried to stop himself, but failed miserably. He slumped over the table, roaring with laughter. Normally, when his uncle became grave, people got scared, because it was so out of character, they _knew _things were serious. This girl had had no experience with Iroh, so she had no idea of what she was up for.

When he finally recovered, both parties were gaping at him. He coughed.

"Apologies, Uncle." He said, reddening.

"Think nothing of it, Prince Zuko." Iroh had turned white, and was eyeing him with a worried smile.

A'Ohni, however, was extremely pleased with herself. She had made him lose his composure, and that was priceless. But she would not be underestimated.

"I know _exactly _what my position is." She began. "I am a criminal. I will be imprisoned for my crimes. I will be at the mercy of the Fire Nation. But I do not care."

Zuko shook his head in disbelief. She leaned in closer to him.

"But I also know." She said. "That the worst thing you would do to me is kill me, and I have no fear of neither death nor torture. You cannot sway me, I am not sorry for what I have done. What I 'stole' was my birthright, my inheritance. I am no thief, you are."

"How am _I _the thief?" Zuko sneered.

"Your entire family are thieves." She replied, long fingernails scraping at the wood of the table. "You steal wealth, you steal land, you steal culture, you steal rights…and you steal lives."

Zuko was taken aback by this, and did not reply.

"We are the Fire Nation." Said Iroh. "We are the strongest nation. The weak will perish to accommodate those who deserve their positions."

"_No!"_ A'Ohni shouted. "You deserve nothing you have taken. You are villains!"

She took Iroh by the shoulders and shook him. "No-one is better than anyone else. _No-one!_ Do you not understand that the circumstances of your birth are meaningless? Your parents could have been peasants just as much as they were royalty. You could have been born Water Nation or Earth Nation just as easily as they were Fire Nation. Every aspect of you status is pure _fluke!"_

Her nails dug into Iroh's shoulders, breaking the flesh. He cried in pain. Zuko jumped up, turning the table on its side.

"Let him go!" He yelled, lunging at her.

What happened next was the last thing he expected.

IV

Zuko was back in the laboratory. This time he was in the tank. A'Ohni was beside him, her eyes were closed. There was a mask around her nose and mouth, a pipe was attached to it, extending around behind her and out through the back of the tank. Her hair spread out like threadlike reeds in the liquid. She was naked as a newborn babe, something that Zuko resisted observing in any more detail.

There was a crash and a thunderous _boom._ Zuko looked up the lab to see what was left of the door fall from its frame. Several people screamed as a troop of Fire Nation soldiers surged forward. They cut down all that stood in their way, as well as many who tried desperately to get out of their way.

When everyone had been dealt with, they launched jets of fire at every corner of the lab. The chemicals boiled, the glass melted and the wood crackled merrily. One soldier took the time to make an obscene gesture at the unconscious A'Ohni before following his comrades out the door.

Sweat broke out on Zuko's brow as the liquid around him began to heat up. He passed easily out through the glass - he was, after all, not really present. But A'Ohni had not yet awoken. Fire was now licking at the metal sides of the tank, yet she still slept.

Zuko tried to pound on the glass, but of course his fist just passed through it. The liquid was starting to boil. A'Ohni winced in her sleep, then, finally, her eyes opened. The first sound to escape her lips was an agonised scream.

Zuko watched helplessly as A'Ohni thrashed about in the scorching liquid. She punched desperately at the glass, which was beginning to soften with the heat. Where she struck it began to distort slightly, until it had stretched out ward to its full extent. One final punch, and the glass fell in tiny shards to the floor, and A'Ohni landed on top of it. She lay there gasping as Zuko's vision began to fade.

He awoke back in his bed in his cabin. Iroh was sitting by his side, snoring loudly. When he stirred, what felt like billions of pins and needles shot painfully through his body. He screamed, jolting Iroh out of his nap.

"Zuko!" His uncle gasped. "How are you?"

Zuko groaned. "Awful…What happened."

"She gave you an electric shock." Iroh answered, not sounding too sure.

"How?"

"She wouldn't say."

"Where is she now?"

"Locked in her room." Iroh stood. "Are you hungry?"

As a matter of fact, he felt sick, but his uncle looked like he was desperate to help. "Yes."

Iroh nodded. "I shall fetch something to eat. You just rest."

Zuko was asleep before he even noticed his eyes closing.

He dreamt about her again. She was still lying on the floor of the lab, but she was stirring, getting up. He offered his hand, and, to his surprise, she not only saw it, but also took it and allowed him to pull her up. When she stood, all her injuries were gone, and she was garbed in a long yellow-golden tunic trimmed with electric blue.

The world twisted around them, and they found themselves standing on the summit of a rocky mountain. Before them was what looked like the remains of a crumbling round temple. It had long since been ransacked, and many of the statues and tables had been either smashed or defaced. Still holding his hand, she led him inside.

Whatever riches had once adorned the walls and altar were gone. Single copper goblet, now a bright blue-green, was rolled about on the marble floor by the gust that swept through the edifice from outside through the open doorway to their backs and back out the shattered window behind the altar. The stained glass that had once stood in the frame was now covering the dais. Part of the ceiling had collapsed next to a large round demon's hole in the centre.

A'Ohni pulled him through an archway to the left of the dais and down a winding staircase. They came to a narrow stone passage. They had not to go far before they went through a doorway and down two more steps into the catacombs. They stopped by a plain black marble sarcophagus.

Zuko screamed as up through the lid rose the spirit of a young woman. She was dressed in a tunic similar to A'Ohni's and a golden circlet studded with blue gems rested on her brow. She was very like A'Ohni, with blonde hair and slightly darker eyes. She alighted in front of them and swept A'Ohni into her arms.

When they parted Zuko saw that tears were spilling down their cheeks and their faces expressed inconceivable joy and sorrow in the same instant. The ghost took his hand and placed it back in A'Ohni's. She then kissed his forehead before vanishing.

Iroh, who had arrived with a tray bearing some fruit, shook Zuko awake. After assuring his uncle that he was fine, 'Just tired', he was left to eat alone.


End file.
